Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker’s The Many Headed Hydra (2000) argued that during the colonial and commercial expansion in the Atlantic Ocean between c. 1640 and 1830 a revolutionary proletariat emerged. Waves of commodification in the Atlantic system – of land, goods and people – created a mobile, multi-ethnic workforce. Authorities attempted to control them, only to provoke new forms of resistance. Atlantic proletarians played their own distinct part in the Age of Revolutions and the abolition of slavery; they created their own forms of equality and freedom. A decade after the publication of that highly suggestive study, how does the thesis stand up?

At this conference to be held at Birkbeck, University of London in Thursday 12 April 2012, we will hope to explore the book’s central themes in the light of new research, as well as taking it into new areas. The book concentrated on the English-speaking Atlantic and we would particularly encourage papers dealing with the non-English Atlantic or similar developments in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Pacific. We would hope papers pay attention to the intersections between class, gender and race. All sub-disciplinary perspectives – economic, social, cultural, political – are welcome.

Themes for papers could include:

· The politics and ideology of the proletariat: abolitionism, revolutions and revolts, popular egalitarianism and democracy, radical religion.

· Types of work and workers; changing work processes; migration and labour markets; industrial relations; work cultures.

· Sites of struggle: the commons, the plantation, ships, factories. How did they structure workers’ experiences? Are particular types of resistance associated with them? Were there others?

2012 Conference of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations

The Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations (SHAFR) invites proposals for panels and individual papers at its annual conference to be held June 28-30, 2012 at the Hartford Marriott Downtown, Hartford, Connecticut – within two hours of Boston and New York. Proposals must be submitted via the on-line interfacewww.shafr.org/conferences/annual/2012-annual-meeting/ by December 1, 2011 in order to receive full consideration.

The conference convenes in Hartford two hundred years after the start of the War of 1812 – a conflict often referred to as the second American Revolution, typically remembered for its origins in impressment disputes and trade embargoes and for its legacies for Native peoples and nation building. This anniversary invites reflection on the meanings of independence in an interdependent world, on the interplay between national self-assertion and imperial politics, and on U.S.-Canadian relations. The 1814 Hartford Convention, in which representatives from New England states considered seceding from the union that frustrated their commercial ambitions, brings to mind the importance of capitalist interests, the connections between seemingly domestic and foreign struggles, and the historical significance of polities other than nations. It shows, furthermore, how American engagement with the wider world could be either revolutionary or counter-revolutionary – or, as in the aftermath of the War of 1812, both simultaneously.

In encouraging proposals relating to “revolutionary aftermaths,” the Program Committee implies a broad definition of “revolution,” applying not only to political movements such as the U.S., French, Haitian, Mexican, Bolshevik, Chinese, Cuban, Iranian, and recent Middle Eastern revolutions, but also to developments such as the industrial, communications, transportation, consumer, and green revolutions. Keeping in mind the cataclysmic vision of modernization gone bad offered by Hartford resident Mark Twain at the close of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, we hope the conference will foster conversations on efforts to grapple with revolutionary changes as well as the ways we make sense of such changes across space and time.

Although the Program Committee will give preference to panels that address the “revolutionary aftermaths” theme, it also welcomes proposals on other topics pertaining to U.S. relations with the wider world, including (but not limited to) state-to-state relations, global governance, transnational movements, and histories of mobility, borderlands, and empire.

Since proposals for complete panels with a coherent theme will be favored over individual paper proposals, those seeking to create or fill out a panel should consult the “panelists seeking panelists” link on the SHAFR 2012 Annual Meeting web page. A complete panel usually involves either three papers plus chair and commentator (with the possibility of one person fulfilling the latter two roles) or a roundtable discussion with a chair and three to five participants. The Committee is open to alternative formats, which should be described briefly in the proposal. We request that applicants have no more than two roles at the conference, and only one presentation of their own research.

Graduate students and first-time participants are eligible to receive fellowships to subsidize the cost of attending the conference. Please see the announcements below for details and additional materials required. The application deadline is December 1, 2011.

SHAFR 2012 Program Committee
David Engerman and Kristin Hoganson, co-chairs

Divine Graduate Student Travel Grants
In 2012, SHAFR will offer several Robert A. and Barbara Divine Graduate Student Travel Grants to assist graduate students who present papers at the conference. The following stipulations apply: 1) no award will exceed $300 per student; 2) priority will be given to graduate students who receive no or limited funds from their home institutions; and 3) expenses will be reimbursed by the SHAFR Business Office upon submission of receipts. The Program Committee will make the decision regarding all awards. A graduate student requesting travel funds must make a request when submitting the paper/panel proposal. Applications should consist of a concise letter from the prospective participant requesting funds and an accompanying letter from the graduate advisor confirming the unavailability of departmental funds to cover travel to the conference. These two items should be submitted to divinegrants@shafr.org at the time the panel or paper proposal is submitted. Funding requests will have no bearing on the committee’s decisions on panels, but funds will not be awarded unless the applicant’s panel is accepted by the program committee in a separate decision. Requests must be Application
deadline: December 1, 2011.

SHAFR Diversity and International Outreach Fellowship Program

SHAFR also offers competitive Diversity and International Outreach Fellowships that will cover travel and lodging expenses for the 2012 annual meeting. The competition is aimed at scholars whose participation in the annual meeting would add to the diversity of the Society. Preference will be given to persons who have not previously presented at SHAFR annual meetings. The awards are intended for scholars who represent groups historically under-represented at SHAFR meetings, scholars who offer intellectual approaches that may be fruitful to SHAFR but are under-represented at annual meetings, and scholars from outside the United States. “Scholars” includes faculty, graduate students, and independent researchers. To further acquaint the winners with SHAFR, they will also be awarded a one-year membership in the organization, which includes subscriptions to Diplomatic History and Passport.

Applicants should submit a copy of their individual paper proposal along with a short cv (2-page maximum) and a brief (2-3-paragraph) essay addressing the fellowship criteria (and including data on previous SHAFR meetings attended and funding received from SHAFR). Please submit your application to diversityprogram@shafr.org. Funding requests will have no bearing on the committee’s decisions on panels, but funds will not be awarded unless the applicant’s panel is accepted by the program committee in a separate decision. Application deadline: December 1, 2011.

"Belief, Tradition, and Identity as Vernacular Practices: Current Issues in Ethnology and Folkloristics"

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International Conference of Young Folklorists
Theoretical Frames and Empirical Research
April 15-17, 2012
Vilnius/Lithuania

Place: Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore. Antakalnio 6, LT-10308 Vilnius, Lithuania
Deadline to submit an abstract: January 20, 2012
Organizer: The Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore in Vilnius
Partner: Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore in University of Tartu

Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore and Department of Ethnology of University of Tartu hosted in May 2011 a symposium of young folklorists titled "Belief, Tradition, and Identity as Vernacular Practices: Current Issues in Ethnology and Folkloristics". This forthcoming conference in Vilnius is a continuation of this idea and seeks to establish a tradition of organizing annual academic meetings of young folklorists taking place alternately in Tartu (Estonia) and Vilnius (Lithuania).
The main goals of the International Conference of Young Folklorists in Vilnius 2012 are:
• Bring together students and young researchers of folklore from different countries and continents to present and compare different ways of folklore research.
• Foster academic communication between young folklorists.
• Encourage young scholars to raise and tackle theoretical research questions and discussions.

The topic of this year’s conference Theoretical frames and empirical research aims to focus the attention of young scholars on negotiating between two important poles of any scientific research – theory and practice. We use theory not only to systematize our knowledge or to choose methodology for empirical research, but theory defines the goals and objects of our discipline. Through theoretical discussions we also enter the interdisciplinary field of human sciences, making our approach and methods comprehensible for others as well as for ourselves. While different researchers have a different attitude towards theory, national schools and research traditions also play an important role. However, it is impossible to bypass theory when we need to locate our research in a particular context, choose methodology or provide arguments in support of our thesis. Young folklorists’ take on theory, their problems and achievements in negotiating between theory and empirical practice shape the future of our discipline and its research objects.
Practical Details:
• Please submit an abstract (max 250 words) by January 20, 2012 by e-mail: linute.arch@gmail.com Please include your name, affiliation, position and e-mail address.
• We kindly ask expect to hear back from organizers regarding the acceptance of your proposal by 3rd of February.
• The working language of the conference will be English. Each paper will be given 20 minutes for presentation with 10 minutes for discussion.
• The working days of the conference are 15th - 16th of April, and the 17th of April is the excursion day.
• The conference program will include excursions to the Folklore Archives of the Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore as well as to Vilnius with its surroundings.
• There is no registration fee but participants are expected to cover their travel and living expenses

Following on the successes of the two previous North American Historical Materialism Conferences at York University (2008 and 2010), we are pleased to issue a call for papers for our third conference. In light of the continuing instability of global capitalism and the mounting resistances from Egypt to the Occupy Movement, our over-riding theme will be “Spaces of Capital, Spaces of
Resistance.” But we welcome all contributions that contribute to critical knowledge on the activist and scholarly Left and the development of historical materialism as a living research program. We specifically welcome papers dealing with The Spaces of Power; Critical Theory and the Politics of Liberation; Capital and its Discontents; Modes and Movements of Resistance.

We welcome individual submissions as well as panel proposals. For individual papers, please send an abstract of no more than 250 words. Panel organizers should submit a 100-word panel abstract along with individual paper abstracts of no more than 250-words for each paper to be presented as part of the panel. We will formulate the conference itinerary based upon the broad themes generated through the submission process. Proposals will be accepted until January 15, 2012 by email to historicalmaterialism12@gmail.com. We apologize, but cannot accommodate requests to present on specific days, so please be prepared to attend the full three days of the conference.

ECPR Standing Group on the European Union “Sixth Pan-European Conference on EU Politics” University of Tampere, Finland September 13-15, 2012 (Deadline: January 15, 2012)

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The ECPR Standing Group on the European Union is organizing its Sixth Pan-European Conference. It will be hosted by the University of Tampere, Finland from 13 to 15 September 2012. The Standing Group's Pan-European Conference is the largest academic conference on the European Union in Europe and brings together scholars working on the European Union from all over the world.

The Conference has eleven sections covering major fields of current research on the EU.

o Theories of European Integration

o EU Institutions and EU Politics

o EU and Domestic Politics

o Public Opinion, Party Politics and Interest Groups

o Political Economy of the EU

o EU Foreign Policy and External Relations

o The EU and Conflict Resolution

o The EU: Challenges and Reforms

o Gender and Diversity

o Immigration, Migration and Asylum

o New Developments in Research on the EU

The program chair will accept proposals for BOTH individual papers and whole panels (including a maximum of four papers). Proposals should be made online. You can find the conference information on the Standing Group website (http://ecpr-sgeu.sabanciuniv.edu/)

Proposals for individual papers should include the name, affiliation, and contact details (including email address) for all paper authors, as well as a brief (max. 150 word) abstract and paper title.

Proposals for whole panels should include the full details for each paper (as above), plus the name, affiliation, and contact details for the panel convenor, chair, and discussant, as well as a short (max. 100 word) panel synopsis.

In all cases, persons making proposals should indicate which of the conference themes they feel their proposal best addresses.

The deadline for proposals is 15 January 2012

The conference program is divided into 11 sections under the chairmanship of Professor Thomas K&#246;nig of the University of Mannheim. The sections and section chairs are as follows:

· Theories of European Integration chaired by Jonas Tallberg. This section covers the study of European integration with particular emphasis on theoretical development.

· EU Institutions and EU Politics chaired by Fabio Franchino. This section covers the study of European institutions with emphasis on decision making.

· EU and Domestic Politics chaired by Robert Thomson. This section covers the impact of European on domestic politics and domestic on European politics.

· Public Opinion, Party Politics and Interest Groups chaired by Brooke Luetgert. This section covers the public attitudes, political parties’ positions and private viewpoints on European politics

· Political Economy of the EU chaired by Thomas Br&#228;uninger. This section covers the study of the European Union with particular emphasis on the interactions between politics and economics more general.

· The EU and Conflict Resolution chaired by Gerald Schneider. This section covers all aspects of EU conflict resolution in- and outside of the EU.

· The EU: Challenges and Reforms chaired by Adrienne H&#233;ritier. This section looks at the external and internal challenges confronted by the EU, and how the EU responds to them institutionally and policy-wise.

· Gender and Diversity chaired by Yvonne Galligan. This section covers the study of European integration with a particular emphasis on issues of gender, identity and diversity.

If you would like to sign up for information about the ECPR Standing Group on the European Union, please send a blank email to our list-serve. This will register you as an individual member of the Standing Group and bring you into our (moderated) mailing list. You do not have to make a proposal to the conference in order to join the list.

You are kindly invited to submit paper proposals for Panel #14 titled "Africa's Disputed Borderlands: Responses from Multiple Disciplinary Perspectives" at the upcoming Conference of the African Studies Association in Germany (VAD). Titled “Embattled Spaces – Contested Orders”, it will be held May 30-June 2, 2012 at the University Campus Cologne, Germany.

Our Panel 14 aims at exploring the complexity of present-day border disputes in Africa and their legacy (i.e. economic, political, social, and cultural) for the borderlands in question, both in comparative perspective and through the single case study approach. It will be co-chaired by Alexander Zhukov (Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences) and Aleksi Yl&#246;nen (Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (HSFK).

For the past half a century, post-colonial borders have been a major “apple of discord” between tates in Africa, leading to numerous political disputes and, in extreme cases, unilateral attempts to seize the contested borderlands by force. Although most of these territorial conflicts, generally considered as the legacy of colonialism, have by now disappeared from the official agenda of inter-state relations, they still cause tensions at the grassroots level and appear to offer

political base for secessionist movements. This is the case, inter alia, of the Cameroonian Bakassi peninsula and the Ogaden region of Ethiopia.

On the contrary, border disputes that have grown out of disintegration processes of the last two decades, rather than the colonial politics, tend to be more important for the present-day intergovernmental relations. A “frozen” border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the problem of the border zone and the special status territories (such as Abyei, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile) between North and South Sudan, a territorial dispute between the unrecognized state of

Somaliland and the autonomous Somali region of Puntland, as well as the status of Awdalland within Somaliland itself, may serve as eloquent examples herewith. While the issue of borderlands in Africa has traditionally been the focus of research for many historians, economists, and political scientists particularly interested in the post-colonial history of Africa and contemporary African development, it has also drawn considerable attention of social and cultural

anthropologists, whose interests include various aspects of conflict of identity and the interrelation between state borders and social borders. The panel aims at exploring the complexity of present-day border disputes in Africa and their legacy (i.e. economic, political, social, and cultural) for the borderlands in question, both in comparative perspective and through case study approach.

By taking the comparative perspective, presenters shall explore the commonalities and differences between the disputed territories in question and the political and socioeconomic paths they have followed prior to and after the beginning of the conflicts.

The complexity of the problems to be addressed by the panel requires an interdisciplinary setting. Papers are invited on a wide range of related issues, such as local socioeconomic changes caused by inter-state and intra-state conflicts, cross-border trade and migration, arms smuggling and inter-communal violence, ethnic identity and mobilization in “politically sensitive” borderlands etc., both in the recent history and current contexts.

Please send your paper proposals (not more than 300 words) by November 30, 2011 to the following address: